In 2008, Barack Obama, a freshman Democratic senator, became the first African-American man elected president of the United States. A decade later, another first-term Democrat from the Senate is making a bid for the White House, this time to become the first African-American woman to lead the nation.

Sen. Kamala Harris of California announced Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that she is running to unseat President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

"I feel a sense of responsibility to stand up for who we are," Harris said.

Harris, 54, plans to launch her campaign at a rally Sunday in Oakland, California, where she was born and raised. In 2017, Harris, whose mother emigrated to the USA from India, became the first South Asian-American, and the second African-American female, senator in history, according to her biography on her Senate page.

"The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values. That’s why I’m running for president of the United States," Harris says in a campaign video released on social media.

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California Senator Kamala Harris announced she's running for president in 2020.
KamalaHarris.org

Before joining the Senate, Harris had already made history as California's first female and first African-American attorney general in 2010. Before that, she served two terms as the district attorney for San Francisco.

As a senator, Harris has been a sharp critic of Trump and his policies. Many predicted for months that she would join the field of Democratic candidates hoping to deny the president a second term.

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San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris speaks to supporters before a No on K press conference October 29, 2008 in San Francisco. San Francisco ballot measure Proposition K seeks to stop enforcing laws against prostitution. Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

Sandy Stier, center left, and Kris Perry, at right, exchange wedding vows in front of California Attorney General Kamala Harris, left, at City Hall in San Francisco, onJune 28, 2013. Stier and Perry, the lead plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned California's same-sex marriage ban, tied the knot about an hour after a federal appeals court freed same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses for the first time in 4 1/2 years. Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP

President Barack Obama walks with California Attorney General Kamala Harris, center, and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, after arriving at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, on Feb. 16, 2012. Eric Risberg, AP

Sen. Kamala Harris walks to the Senate chamber for a series of 6 roll call votes regarding the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Resolution on Capitol Hill, on October 18, 2017 in Washington. Mark Wilson, Getty Images

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks with her aides during a break from testimony from Attorney General nominee William Barr at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Jan. 15, 2019. Andrew Harnik, AP

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About a year before the Iowa caucuses, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, former Housing Secretary Julian Castro, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Maryland Rep. John Delaney are among the other Democrats who have announced their candidacy. Many more are likely to add their names to the list in the coming weeks and months.

Harris' campaign manager will be Juan Rodriguez, who held the same role in her successful 2016 Senate bid. Her sister Maya will act as campaign chairwoman. The campaign will be based in Baltimore and have a second office in Oakland.

If elected, Harris would become the second president after Richard Nixon to be born in California.